Alex finally decides to get up. He slept for what felt like an eternity, waking up multiple times throughout the night. Eventually, he resolves to deal with things the only way he knows how—by moving on. Dwelling on the nightmare he’d just gone through won’t help, and blaming the Realm for everything that happened makes it just a little easier to stomach.
As Alex readies himself for the day, he sees three unread system messages waiting for him.
The first is from Tereza: [Tereza: Good morning! Hope you slept well and had some nice dreams? I sure had some.]
Alex stops for a moment, raising an eyebrow. "Is this girl serious? We were just in a deathmatch with 47 out of 50 people killed—a 94% death rate—and she’s... wishing me sweet dreams? I wish I had her balls. Wait, that came out wrong. I wish I had her nerves." He reads on.
[Oh, and by the way, that smug mind mage who forced me into the contract mentioned that you’re now the contract holder. Isn’t that a nice surprise<3 ? We’ve got plenty to talk about. Message me when you’re awake?]
Alex, both annoyed and bewildered, makes a judgment. "Any woman who survives the Fantasy Realm’s tutorial mission has got to be tough as nails. I’m not sure I can handle her… better leave that for later. I’ll deal with her craziness when I have to."
He then turns to his next message from Rishi: [Rishi: Good morning! Surely you’re already up by now.]
Alex stops reading and sighs. "NO, I literally just woke up. What is wrong with these people?"
[Let’s meet at 12 PM Central Realm time and discuss a few things. Meet me at the usual abandoned temple structure. I’ve already notified Tereza too—don’t worry, she’s your servant now, and I won’t do anything inappropriate.]
Alex checks the system clock and groans. 11:55. "Why... I wanted more sleep," he mutters, annoyed. "He can keep the damn contract if he’d just give me a mountain of FC instead!"
Finally, Alex remembers there’s another message, surprisingly from Roja. After their initial meet-ups, their conversations had been brief, strictly focused on information-sharing for mutual benefit. Roja and the other tutorial survivors had also kept their distance after that last tense meeting. Alex hadn’t minded, figuring it was for the best, but now he’s curious about what she wants. He decides to message Rishi to say he’ll be a few minutes late, then reads Roja’s message.
[Roja: Hey, how’s it going? The girls and I saw you leave the PvP mission—impressive! Let’s catch up at 12 PM Central Realm time, okay? Meet me at the Kressen Restaurant in East District.]
Alex lets out a frustrated sigh. "12 PM here, 12 PM there… I wanted to sleep in after that brutal mission, not be everyone’s 12 o’clock call." He grumbles about missing his pre-Realm life, where waking up before noon was practically a miracle. But, deciding to prioritize Rishi and Tereza, who—insane personalities aside—have at least proven useful allies, he quickly responds:
[Alex: Can’t do 12 PM. I’ll catch you later. Also, I don’t waste FC on Realm facilities and don’t know where that even is.]
With that, he hurries toward the meeting place. Despite all his character flaws, Alex, being German, hates the idea of showing up late. Arriving at 12:01, he realizes he’s the first to get there and mutters, "I’m ready for bed already. I hate this day already."
Slumping onto a stone ledge to wait, he frowns, only for someone to suddenly wrap their arms and legs around him from behind. Legs lock around his waist as Tereza’s face appears directly beside his, her voice teasingly soft.
"Good morning," Tereza whispers in Alex's ear, her breath giving him goosebumps.
"Cut it out, Tereza... please," he mutters, half annoyed and half flustered.
"I’ll stop if you can say my name correctly," she teases. After several attempts at the Czech pronunciation, fumbling and even mixing up the English and German versions—she finally smiles, "See? Not so hard, right?"
"Good morning, you two! It looks like my little gift is already paying off," Rishi announces, arriving just in time to witness the bizarre scene of Tereza still clinging to Alex, her legs wrapped around his waist and her face close to his.
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Alex struggles a bit before finally managing to free himself, realizing that beneath her tough exterior, Tereza has a playful and mischievous side—at least when she's not trapped in a deadly game.
For the next couple of hours, the three of them chat about anything but the Realm. Alex and Rishi share parts of their backgrounds, though Alex holds back a bit, feeling his personal life is mundane and maybe a little embarrassing. He keeps to his interests in fiction, sharing only a few surface-level details. Rishi, as usual, dives into his life as a busy businessman and genius investor. He barely has enough time for everything he juggles, yet, as he puts it, "Money’s worthless compared to the life and opportunities the Realm offers." Alex recalls this phrase, agreeing with him completely.
Tereza opens up, revealing more than either of them expected. She’s surprisingly older than she appears—33, a good five years older than Alex. She tells them about her upbringing in difficult conditions, her harrowing experiences in the tutorial, where she was the only survivor of her group. The others had turned against her when she refused to support their self-declared leader, who used manipulation and threats to claim all the tutorial’s rewards for himself.
Listening to her, Alex feels a strange respect for her resilience. He’s still not sure if she’s being entirely honest or if she’s trying to win their trust for some other reason, but he senses there’s truth in her story—her experience in the tutorial must have shaped her into the clever, resourceful person sitting with them now.
Rishi, in the spirit of camaraderie, decides to give Tereza a “small welcoming gift,” just as he did for Alex. "Forget about money worries in real life," he says with a smile, promising to wire her a couple million USD. She’s pleased, though her reaction isn’t quite as enthusiastic as he expects. "Guess she’s got her priorities in the right place," he thinks. "Money's just not everything to her either."
The conversation finally turns to the mission rewards, and Alex takes this chance to level up his stats. With his innate skill Statistical OCD lvl MAX, using all 8 of his skill points to increase all his stats by 2. He grins with satisfaction. "Finally," he thinks, "every single stat is now more than twice the human average."
Alex Kerber: Lvl 3
STR: 11, AGI: 11, PHY: 11, SNS: 11, CHA: 11, MNA: 11, INT: 11 SPR: 11, LUK: 11
Available Stat Points: 0
Alex also shares his [NFFA Recommendation] with the group. After all, Rishi and Tereza had seen him pick up something special during the mission, and with Rishi’s complete trust in him, he feels it’s only fair to reciprocate. Their teamwork had led to extraordinary results, eliminating every obstacle and maxing out their mission rewards.
Rishi responds, “Trade it in!” while Tereza says, “Keep it!”
Alex groans. "Great. I was unsure before, and now I'm even more so. Honestly, I lean toward trading it in. I don't want PvP-only missions. My subskill Arcane Medieval Armory was basically useless in the last one since there were no good targets. I'd rather enter regular worlds; I don’t enjoy killing other players either. Even if PvP missions would give slightly better rewards, I'd still choose a normal world." He sighs, adding, "But, if our lottery rewards are incredible and these Bloody Chests are full of amazing loot, I might reconsider."
Tereza steps up and says, “Then let's open them! I’ll start with my [Copper-Rank Lottery Ticket]. It says it guarantees a Light Green quality item.”
Alex nods, intrigued. “Alright, so it’s Light Green for Copper, Light Blue for Silver, and Light Purple for Gold. Good to know.”
As Tereza activates her ticket, a large spinning wheel appears in front of her. Rishi and Alex can see the wheel, though not the names of each item. When it finally stops, Tereza's face falls a bit, and she shares the item details with them, clearly unimpressed with her prize.
[Diamond Necklace]
World: Earth (The Purge)
Quality: Light Blue
Type: Necklace
Effect: Increases CHA by 2
Effect: Enhances attraction from characters attracted to feminine traits; may cause jealousy among those who value luxury jewelry.
“Oh wow! That’s a strong piece. Two extra CHA and the potential to sway NPCs, especially men, could be really handy in missions. Though, be careful—it might spark jealousy in some female characters. Still, it’s a powerful item, don’t you think?” Alex says in amazement!
Rishi nods. “Absolutely. If you don’t want it yourself, keep in mind that CHA-focused female players often use their appearance to gain leverage in missions. There’s demand for items like this, and you could sell it for around 15,000 to 20,000 FC. Women with influence know how to keep men under their thumb to skip battles and secure wins. They also tend to have a lot of FC available to them.”
Tereza tilts her head thoughtfully. “It’s not exactly my style, but it might come in handy. I’ll hold onto it for now.”
Rishi then stands up, a glint of greed in his eye. “Alright, my turn,” he says with a grin, opening his [Gold-Rank Lottery Ticket] with palpable anticipation.